Past champions relive Gloves' golden days

Press Photo/Adam BirdJesse Briseno, left, and John Butler are two of four men from Grand Rapids who have won National Golden Gloves championships. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Kevin Childrey are the others.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Jesse Briseno still chuckles at the memory.

As he stood on the scales in Denver in 2002, weighing in before his National Golden Gloves championship, passersby all had one question for him.

"People kept asking me, 'Do you have a brother who used to box, who won a championship in 1990?' " Briseno said, laughing. "And then I saw my old boxing coach from Northern Michigan University who said, 'Briseno! What are you doing here?'

"I told him, 'Coach, I'm competing!' No one could believe it."

Days later, observers were equally stunned when Briseno held the winning the trophy in his arms. He had accomplished what may be one of the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions' greatest feats: winning a second national championship 12 years after the first.

Briseno, 37, is one of four Grand Rapids men to win what is perhaps amateur boxing's greatest prize. John Butler in 1953 was the Grand Rapids area's first champion, followed by Kevin Childrey in 1988, Briseno in 1990 and 2002, and Floyd Mayweather Jr., in 1993, 1994, and 1996. The four boxers combined to win seven championships. And now the city will host the national tournament for the first time May 5-10.

Though their titles came in different eras and under different circumstances, all four boxers carry compelling stories that provide stirring examples of reaching goals and then living with the life that came after the boxing lights dimmed.

Butler talks about how he went from boxing beginner to national champion:

For Butler, 73, and a retired school and city administrator who lives on Grand Rapids' southeast side, boxing was an avenue of escape -- from poverty and racism and out of Mississippi.

"Back in those days, boxing was a quick way out of desperate situations or neighborhoods," said Butler, whose mother worked as a domestic and moved the family to Grand Rapids after her husband's death when Butler was 7.

Butler was fortunate to find his way to the gym of legendary local boxer and trainer Wes Ramey.

Ramey helped develop Butler's athletic skills and encouraged him to take every opportunity that public education would provide. Butler parlayed that advice and training into the first national championship for a local boxer and a boxing scholarship to Michigan State.

"Two schools in the Big Ten had boxing teams at that time, Wisconsin and Michigan State," said Butler, who captained the Spartans in his senior year of 1957. "So we did a lot of traveling, to places like Maryland, Syracuse, San Jose State, and Idaho."

It opened Butler's world. With all the attention that had come from his boxing success, he said he didn't realize the depth of racism that still existed, except when he was turned down for Officers Training School while serving in the military.

"No one should regret the time in which they grew up," Butler said, "because you made things better for the people who came later. Maybe what I did made it easier for the people who came after me."

Since then, Childrey, has been a recluse of sorts who's seldom seen and is said by some family members to be living out of contact in another part of the country. Some local boxing community members report Childrey gained a great deal of weight and struggled with personal problems after his championship.

"When he came to us he had had only about 10 fights and then he lost in a novice tournament," said Bob Serulla, who was Childrey's trainer and mentor. "But the kid had such a fire and I never, ever saw a guy who listened in the corner and then went out and did what you told him to do.

"We put him in an Olympic Trial fight that year before he went to nationals and he stopped (Pan American Games winner) Patrick Byrd in the third round. We all looked at each other and kind of asked, 'What do we have here?' "

Childrey's game plan has always seemed to be built around the unexpected.

"He sort of surprised me when he walked into the gym because he didn't appear to be anything spectacular," said Dave Packer, executive director of Michigan Golden Gloves. "But then he started winning and all of a sudden was showing he was a national-caliber boxer.

"He had natural skills, and he just kept getting better and gaining more confidence."

That combination of skills and growth, Packer said, is what makes a champion.

Briseno brought back his first title in 1990, but unfortunately, it was too late for his father.

"When I was little, my dad told me that I was the best boxer that ever lived," said Briseno, who is a student at Kuyper College. "I thought that was something that every father tells his kids, and I didn't take him up on his word.

"When he was dying, I had an opportunity to reflect with him in the hospital. He was in a coma but I can remember saying to him, 'Dad, I believe you. I will start to do the things that will make me a champion.' After I said those words, a tear came down his cheek."

Briseno's training in 1990 was relentless. He says he knew he would win the national championship as soon as he reported to the gym.

That same drive persuaded him to make his startling comeback try 12 years later. This time, his efforts were fueled by his faith.

"When I put my best effort and trust in God for his direction, I can succeed at anything I attempt," he said. "I do remember at one point asking, 'What am I thinking?' I had to upgrade my training and my approach to conditioning because I was coming back from a layoff."

After his first national championship in 1990, Briseno became a member of the U.S. Olympic Education Center boxing team at Northern Michigan University. He won a silver medal at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival and the gold a year later. He fought in the Golden Gloves national finals four more times before beginning a six-year layoff from the sport in 1996.

"But I've always been a jogger and I like to play basketball at the YMCA," he said. "It wasn't like I let myself get out of shape."

In fact, he's still so fit that he said another comeback -- at 37 years of age -- may not be out of the question, although his wife, Darcy, and their new baby, Josiah David, will have a say in the decision.

"I've never been a big fan of people who cry age as a reason to not compete or to not attempt to reach their full potential," said Briseno, who views the lucrative payoff of a short stint in professional boxing as part of his mission to help others. "I see it as a lot like my Christian life: God calls me to place myself in places or risk at times; he called his disciples to dangerous things.

"I live by Philippians 4:13, that says, 'I can do everything through him who gives me strength.' "

Press File Photo/Cory OlsenFloyd Mayweather, now considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, won National Golden Gloves championships in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

Briseno found what he calls his mission in life on recent mission trips to Haiti and Kosovo.

"Those trips changed my perspective on how I should live my life," said Briseno, a junior studying for a degree in cross cultural ministries. "In Haiti, I saw 10,000 homeless children who live in the streets and many who live by the dump, scrounging for food. When I got home from that trip, all I could see were kids playing video games.

"I want to help people who are less fortunate. After Haiti, I've become convinced that God wants me in kingdom work."

Most sports fans are well aware of Grand Rapids' fourth national boxing champion. After his three Golden Gloves titles, Floyd Mayweather embarked on a professional career that has brought him notoriety and wealth.

Through his philanthropic work as part of his foundation, Mayweather has returned substantial gifts to the local community and beyond. His gift to underwrite the operational costs of this year's national tournament will place the local Golden Gloves franchise in a position to consider a meaningful addition to the local program.